Featured Images

Banana Boots

Burrell Collection Photo Library

Comedian Billy Connolly's famous banana boots, now on display in the People's Palace.

Billy Connolly was born in Anderston in 1942, but moved to Partick at the age of five to live with two of his aunts. When he left school he worked as a message boy before being taken on as an apprentice welder in a shipyard. He performed on stage with his banjo and ad-libbed Glasgow patter as an amateur and then was a founder member of the folk group the Humblebums. The group disbanded in 1971 and Connolly developed his stand-up comedy act. By the mid-1970s he had become Scotland's most popular comedian.

In 1975 Connolly had a hit with the comedy single D.I.V.O.R.C.E.. That same year the documentary Big Banana Feet was filmed, taking its title from the outrageous banana boots in which he often performed, and he became famous throughout the UK. In more recent years Connolly has starred in tv shows and movies, notably Mrs Brown in 1997, and has continued to tour.

Reference: 800.82.113.b

Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums